George Baldi III

George William Baldi III (born August 29, 1970) is an American singer best known as the bass singer of the a cappella singing group Rockapella from 2002-2014, and a supporting member thereafter.

Early life

Baldi grew up in Philadelphia. He discovered his musical and performing talents at a young age by singing and dancing in the jam sessions his family would have at his aunt's house after having Sunday dinner at his grandmother's.^[1] Baldi attended the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where he majored in vocal music, and after graduating in 1988,^[1] continued his musical education at Morris Brown College as a vocal performance major, receiving a BA in Music in 1993.

Musical career

Baldi auditioned for a job at Walt Disney World after graduating from college, and in 1994 began performing in The Voices of Liberty and then American Vybe, a cappella groups in The American Adventure pavilion at Epcot. Then, in 2001, Baldi auditioned with a group of guys for a job at Universal Studios Japan located in Osaka. He was trying to help them get the job, but was the only person chosen out of the group and was offered a position in the Beetlejuice Rock and Roll show as Frankenstein.^[2] The job started on March 31, 2001, the park's opening date, and Baldi moved to Japan for it, continuing to work and live there for a year, eventually obtaining the position of park vocal coach in addition to his performing duties.

Rockapella

When bassist Barry Carl decided to retire from the group to pursue other opportunities in 2002, Rockapella was left without a bass singer and needed to find a new one. The group was informed by a mutual friend that a "true bass" could be found in Baldi, but he was in Japan at the time. They sent him an email asking if he would come back to the U.S. and audition for the group. He was hired for the job in May 2002 and began to learn the group's song setlist. Baldi recorded his parts for Smilin', the group's 2002 summer album that served as a transition between Carl and Baldi singing bass, and his first concert as a member of Rockapella was on August 1, 2002 in Hartford, Connecticut at the East Hartford Town Green. Baldi's soft, smooth, resonant bass is a great contrast to Carl's, which seemed to rumble up from the depths of the earth, and his addition to the band started the evolution of Rockapella to their current R&B-based sound, or "the new sound of Rockapella" as the group refers to it as.^[3] He has sung many bass solos for Rockapella, taking over some of Carl's previous solos and singing his own unique solos in new original and cover music the group has included in their setlist over the years. Baldi's vocal range is vast, transitioning from low bass rumbling to high pitched belting with ease.^[4] In 2014, Baldi stepped aside from performing full-time with Rockapella and was replaced by Ryan Chappelle. Baldi remains as a supporting member to this day.^[5]

Personal life

When not touring the world with Rockapella, Baldi recreationally rides bicycles; he performs at the Walt Disney World Resort in the Festival of the Lion King playing the role of Kiume, a role he originated when the show first opened. Baldi currently lives in Florida, where he is close to his daughter DeAhna Zhane Baldi (b. 1994).

Discography

Domestic Releases

Unaffiliated Releases

Various Releases

References